One change, in particular, is most welcome: Allowing voters to register to vote and to change their addresses online.
In this day and age of heightened Internet security measures and online financial transactions becoming commonplace, allowing potential voters to register online is a logical and welcome step. Husted said 10 other states already offer or plan to offer online registration, according to our Columbus bureau’s William Hershey.
We have embraced other steps in the past to make voting registration easier — most notably, allowing citizens to register at schools, libraries and other public facilities, not just at the county board of elections office. Any measure that encourages Ohioans to exercise their right to vote should be a no-brainer.
Take Butler County as an example. About 272,000 of its 363,000 residents are old enough to vote, and 240,541 were actually registered for the November 2010 election. Of the number registered, only 50.6 percent — 121,742 voters — actually took the time to vote.
More than half of the residents of Butler County are letting the remainder make important election decisions on their behalf.
Husted’s recommendations won’t change that outcome overnight, but it’s important that Ohio move toward making voting easier and more convenient — if the reliable technology is available. Husted also claims that millions of dollars will eventually be saved if boards of elections do not have to process so many paper documents.
To use the online system, an applicant would need to have a valid Ohio driver’s license or state identification card.
By allowing voters the ability to change their addresses online (when they relocate to a new neighborhood or town), it’s hoped that the number of provisional ballots cast in any election can be reduced.
Those contentious provisional ballots are the ones that are often cast by voters who have moved and, as a consequence, find themselves in a wrong precinct on Election Day. Those ballots are then set aside and held in order to be verified by the board of elections later in the month.
They are also the uncounted ballots that can leave a close tax levy or race outcome in doubt for two weeks after Election Day.
Husted told the Columbus Dispatch that about half of the 105,000 provisional ballots cast statewide in November 2010 were the result of voters not updating their addresses with their boards of elections. Allowing voters to update their addresses online is another no-brainer.
The changes proposed by Husted are generally getting a good reception around the state, especially the online registration. We’ll lend our voice to those who endorse the idea and urge state lawmakers to study and act on Husted’s recommendations promptly.